Butadiene is an important monomer for the production of high molecular weight polymers. It is used extensively in the production of tires and other products in the automotive industry. It is also used extensively in the production of synthetic rubbers, such as styrene-butadiene rubber, nitrile-butadiene rubber, and styrene-butadiene latex. Polymer grade butadiene requires a high purity, and needs to be essentially free of active chemicals such as acetylenes, carbonyls, and contaminants such as sulfur and other heavy components.
Butadiene is usually a by-product recovered from the steam cracking of naphtha during the production of ethylene and propylene. Naphtha cracking, either through steam or catalytic cracking, produces a range of products, and is not optimized for the production of chemicals such as butadiene. Another route for the production of butadiene is through catalytic oxidative dehydrogenation of n-butene, which yields a higher concentration of butadiene, but also yields some undesirable products that must be removed.